The present invention relates to machines for cleaning and disinfecting the interior of transportation vehicles, such as for example, railroad passenger cars and the like. The machine of the present invention can be used for cleaning, eliminating graffiti and disinfecting the interior of tractor trailers, railroad refrigeration cars, interior of railroad stations, office building interiors, etc.
Devices of the above mentioned general type are known in the art. One of such devices is used for washing and disinfecting interior of trailers or vans and disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,897,263, while another device is an internal cleaner for truck trailers and bodies and disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,106,516. U.S. Pat. No. 4,429,433 discloses a surface cleaning machine with squeegee assembly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,577,364 deals with a floor cleaning machine, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,624,026 discloses a surface maintenance machine with a rotary flip. The above mentioned devices are used for cleaning tractor trailer-refrigerators or for cleaning floors of the buildings. The devices for washing and disinfecting the interior of trailers and vans are stationary and based on vertically extending mounting structure which is fixed at one end and a boom secured at the other end of the mounting structure, extending in horizontal direction and movable vertically and also turnable between a plurality of angles. This apparatus also has a pressurized washing liquid and a rotatable washing head. The devices for cleaning floors of horizontal surfaces are based on external electric power used for propulsion of a frame with wheels and tanks with cleaning the recovered solutions as well as squeegee assembly with the blades. The operator in this case usually walks behind the machine or sits on it.
The above mentioned devices cannot be used however for cleaning and eliminating graffiti, disinfecting an interior of such transportation vehicles as railroad cars due to high requirements for machine maneuverability, required small dimensions, availability autonomous sources of power, efficiency, availability of very limited space for machine operation and demands to clean not only floors but also seats, walls, ceiling and cover windows of the vehicle interior lighting fixtures. A machine for such application has to be battery powered, autonomous, capable of doing efficient work in a very limited time, capable of carrying and providing safe and comfortable position for the operator, and also should not be bulky, large or long and must be highly maneuverable.
Maintaining of daily cleanness in the interior of the railroad cars, especially subway cars in big cities, is a mammoth and expensive task. However, presently there are no machines which can satisfy the above specified requirements.